Therefore Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-boznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the river, be ye far from thence
These words open King Darius's written reply to the officials who had challenged the Jews' right to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. The men who came to investigate the work are now told to keep their distance. How did a hostile inquiry end up protecting the work it targeted?
Darius had the royal records searched for the decree of Cyrus. The moment it turned up, he answered the officials.
That was enough for Darius. He rebuked the officials. And far from listening to the enemies of the Jews, he honoured the Jews. He made fresh commands, carrying out even more fully what Cyrus had proclaimed in his first year.
Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai governed the province Beyond the River. One writer notes that they are only the latest in a line of men set against the same work.
New men had replaced the earlier enemies of the people. Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and their companions opposed the temple at first. Now it is Tattenai, Shethar-boznai and their companions. In Nehemiah 6:1 the names change again: there Sanballat, Tobijah and Geshem the Arabian, with their companions, oppose the work. One group of men follows the other in their more or less violent hatred against the work of God. But the opposition remains, because the enemy who uses all these instruments has not changed.
Two things gave this command its force. The scroll lay in an unlikely place, and Persian law made a royal decree unchangeable.
Darius, the Persian, supports the Jews and gives a fair verdict. That verdict rests on "the law of the Medes and Persians… that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed" (Daniel 6:15). In all this we can see the providence of God watching over His people. They found the decree of Cyrus at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes, and not at Babylon. Without God stepping in, even the most careful search would have found nothing. … The adversaries have no respect for the people of God, yet they hurry to obey the king's decree, because the fear of man fills their hearts. But God uses everything, even this fear, to carry out His plans of grace for the protection of His own.
The complaint went up to Darius. The answer came back against the men who sent it, and one writer sees God at work out of sight.
Acting on this decree, Darius commanded Tattenai, Shethar-boznai and their companions to stop troubling the Jews and to let them continue their work in peace. To faith, God was plainly working behind the scenes. He used the power of the enemy to carry out His own purposes — another instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. Darius did not only confirm the decree of Cyrus when their adversaries stepped in. He also issued another decree: the king himself would pay for everything the house of God needed.
The order carried real weight. But the king's decree was not the first word in this story.
The authority of the great king came on the scene only to confirm God's word and God's servants, and to force the respect and help of those who had tried to hinder. What an encouragement to look above the hills to Him who sits in the heavens! … The commandment of the God of Israel had its right and first place, and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes came in underneath it.
Permission from a king is not the same as power to finish.
The decree of Darius was not enough to keep them building. They needed the help of God. We too need the grace and blessing of God if we are to build up the church of God according to His Word.
Kelly turns from Darius to the reader. The lesson is not about working the system.
Our business is not to set one king against another. It is to go forward in the name of the Lord and to take His word as our full warrant. We can be certain of this: as we seek God's guidance, it is God's part to guide all men and all circumstances. That is His work, not ours. Our part, in short, is to go on in faith. He knows how to deal with those who oppose us.
- Search. The complaint against the Jews sent Darius to the records. Cyrus's decree turned up, and that settled the case.
- Hands off. Darius orders the very men who came to stop the work to stay away and leave it alone.
- Providence. The scroll lay in Media, not Babylon, and Persian law made the king's word unchangeable. God watched over His people through an old record.
- Reversal. The move meant to halt the building instead secured it, and brought royal funding with it.
- Order. God's commandment came first, and the king's decree came under it. No decree could replace God's help in the work itself.
let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place.
Darius searched the royal records and found Cyrus's original order. Now he answers the officials who had challenged the builders. His answer is not a permit but a command to stand back. Why would a foreign king defend a temple that is not his own?
The officials wrote hoping the king would stop the work. His reply came back as an order against them.
That was enough for Darius. He gave the officials a rebuke. And far from listening to the adversaries of the Jews, he puts honour on the Jews. He makes fresh commands, carrying out even more fully what had already been proclaimed in the first year of Cyrus.
The old decree was not filed where anyone expected. It turned up at Achmetha, a fortress in Media, far from Babylon.
In all this we can see the providence of God, watching over His people. The edict of Cyrus turned up at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes, and not at Babylon. This proves that without God stepping in, even the most careful search would have been in vain. Darius does not go as far as Nebuchadnezzar did, who was humbled and then proclaimed that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of men. Still, Darius acknowledges the God of heaven. And he recognizes the temple at Jerusalem as the house of God.
The adversaries' own letter produced this order. Their attack became the protection of the work.
To faith, God was plainly working behind the scenes. He was using the power of the enemy to carry out His own purposes. Here is another instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. When their adversaries interfered, Darius did not only confirm the decree of Cyrus. He also issued a second decree: his own treasury would pay for all the provision needed for the house of God.
The order names the builders: the Jews' own governor and elders, not the king's officers. The king's word did not start this work. It confirmed work already going on, and it turned the opposers into helpers.
So the great king's authority came on the scene only to confirm God's word and His servants, and to compel the homage and help of those who had tried to hinder. What an encouragement to look above the hills to Him who sits in the heavens! And, as we read, the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah. The commandment of the God of Israel had its right and first place. The decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes came in under it.
Notice what the builders never did. They did not play one king off against another. They kept building and left the court to God.
Our business is not to set one king against another. It is to go forward in the name of the Lord, taking His word as our full warrant. We can be completely sure of this: as we seek God's guidance, it is God's part to guide all men and all circumstances. That is His work, not ours. Our part, in short, is to go on in faith. He knows how to deal with those who oppose us.
Read chapters 4 to 6 together and an order appears. The work stopped. Prophets stirred the people. Then the way opened.
Look at chapters 4 to 6 as a whole and an important lesson appears. Where hearts are not stirred before God, He may allow circumstances to make the work impossible. On the surface it will look as though the work stopped because of forces no one could control. The deeper reason is that there was little or no stirring in the hearts of God's people. On the other hand, God steps in — for instance, by sending prophets who speak to the heart of the people. Then, when hearts turn to God, He also takes care of the circumstances. And then nobody can stop the work until it is finished, "by decree of the God of Israel."
- Hearts — The long pause was not just political. When the prophets reached the people's hearts, the outward obstacles began to move.
- Search — The lost scroll surfaced in Media, not Babylon. Without God's hand, the most careful search would have found nothing.
- Rebuke — The letter meant to stop the work came back as an order against the men who sent it. Darius added fresh commands that went beyond Cyrus.
- Distance — Told to keep away, the opposers then had to help. God used the enemy's own power to do His work.
- Order — God's word held first place, and the royal decrees came in underneath it. Faith keeps building and leaves the rulers to God.
Moreover, I give orders what ye shall do to these elders of the Jews, for the building of this house of God that of the king's goods, of the tribute beyond the river, expenses be diligently given to these men, that they be not hindered.
The officials over the province asked Darius to check whether Cyrus really authorised the temple at Jerusalem, and the search found the record. The king's answer went far beyond a "yes": here he orders the province's own tax money to pay the builders, in full and without delay.
The opponents of the work had written to the king hoping he would stop it. The orders that came back said the opposite, and one writer traces the hand behind them.
Darius acted on this decree. He commanded Tatnai, Shetharboznai and their companions to stop troubling the Jews, and to let them carry on their work in peace. To faith it was plain that God was working behind the scenes, using the power of the enemy to carry out His own purposes. Here is another instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. When their adversaries stepped in, Darius did more than confirm the decree of Cyrus. He issued another decree too: the king himself would pay for everything the house of God needed.
The first complaint against the Jews had been about money: rebuild the city, and the king loses tax revenue. This decree turns that argument on its head.
Darius issued a decree that taxes owed to the king from his lands west of the river should cover the cost of the building (v. 8). Rehum had argued that once the temple was built, the Jews would stop paying taxes. Darius decreed that the Jews would have tax money paid to them!
The purpose clause at the end of the verse is the point of the whole arrangement. One writer draws out how far that protection reached while the people stayed in their place of obedience.
God Himself was the shield of His people while they did His work. While they obeyed His word and counted on Him for strength and defence, no one could hinder them. In this way Satan once more overreached himself. He was used to further the very work he hated. Centuries later the apostle wrote the same thing: "I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." (Phil. 1:12.)
The order of events matters. The Jews had once stopped the work. Then they took it up again, before any new decree existed.
In stopping the building, Israel was at fault. What they lacked was faith in God. We have seen that when there was faith they dared to build, even though there was a decree against it. The effect of this faith is a decree in their favour — and that came through their adversaries' own interference. It is good to trust in God. Blessed be His gracious name!
So the king's money was not what drove the work. Another writer names what the record credits for their progress.
The beautiful fact, as we have already seen, is that the Jews had faith to resume the building of the house before they received this fresh decree. The record says the elders of the Jews built and prospered. They prospered not through the king's commandment, but "through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo."
The verse names the fund: the king's tribute from the province. One writer shows what that same tribute cost the people who paid it.
This king's tribute (Middah — Ezra 6:8; Ezra 4:20) was demanded of them. Everyone had to borrow from his brother, pledging his fields and vineyards. They could not repay the debt. So the land was no longer their own, and they even had to put their children into slavery, with no way to buy them back, because their fields were in their brothers' hands.
A Gentile king paying for God's house also says something about where the nation now stood.
This book of Ezra was of the greatest importance. It gives God's own account of the in-between state in which they waited for the Messiah… Meanwhile they are Lo-ammi (not-My-people). They are (not "were") slaves of the Gentile power. Yet Cyrus had proclaimed more than freedom to return. He had also given a charge to build Jehovah's house in Jerusalem, as prophecy had said.
- Attack. The complaint sent to Darius was meant to stop the temple; God used the enemy's own move to serve His purpose.
- Reversal. The accusers said the Jews would withhold taxes. The king handed tax money to the Jews instead.
- Shield. While they obeyed God and leaned on Him, no one could hinder them. Satan overreached again and pushed on the work he hated.
- Order. Faith built first, while a ban still stood. The decree followed their faith; it did not create it.
- Sobriety. The money came from a Gentile king's tribute. Real kindness — but it marked them as subjects of a foreign power, still waiting for the Messiah.
And that which they have need of, both young bullocks and rams and lambs, for the burnt-offerings to the God of the heavens, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests that are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail;
Local officials asked a Persian king to shut down the building work in Jerusalem. Instead he ordered his own treasury to keep the altar stocked — animals for burnt offerings, and wheat, salt, wine and oil, fresh every day. Why does a pagan empire pay for the worship of Israel's God? And what was all that daily produce for?
Their opponents had written to Darius to stop the work. Commentators see God at work out of sight here. He used the enemy's own power to build what the enemy wanted stopped.
Faith could see God at work behind the scenes, using the power of the enemy to carry out His own purposes. Here is another instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. When their adversaries interfered, Darius confirmed the decree of Cyrus. He also issued another decree: he himself would pay for all the provision the house of God needed.
The turnaround goes further. An official named Rehum had earlier warned the king about tax money.
Rehum had argued that if the Jews built the temple, they would stop paying taxes. Darius decreed that the Jews would receive tax money! Yet even that was not all. Whatever the Jews needed, the priests in Jerusalem could ask for it, and they would receive it — bulls, rams and lambs for burnt offerings, wheat, salt, wine and oil. And not on one occasion only, but "day by day."
The building had stalled. The problem was never permission — the king's command was already on their side.
All this shows us that Israel was at fault in stopping the building of the temple. It appears from Haggai that they had made no progress at all. The fear their adversaries stirred up in them had stopped them. They had no excuse for this, since even the king's command was on their side. What they lacked was faith in God. We have seen that where there was faith they dared to build, even though there was a decree against it. The effect of this faith is to bring about a decree in their favour, and that even through the action of their adversaries. It is good to trust in God.
Each item in the decree belongs to a particular offering. This was not a random food parcel.
The material mentioned was for the sacrifices and offerings. Young bulls, rams and lambs for the burnt offerings. Wheat, oil and salt for the grain offering, and wine for the drink offering. The priests were to receive all these things without fail, day by day.
Those three offerings are not interchangeable. Each one points to something different about the Lord Jesus.
The grain offering was never offered alone, but always together with a blood offering. In the burnt offering, the offerer recognises this: the Lord Jesus glorified God by sacrificing Himself at Calvary. But we may appreciate His sacrifice while not valuing the perfection of His person. So the grain offering reminds us of His life on earth. In every detail of it, the Lord Jesus expressed the perfection of human righteousness. Then the drink offering of wine stands for the offerer's joy in the offering. The believer rejoices in the Lord Jesus Himself and in the value of His work.
The decree names Him "the God of heaven." That title marks a change.
Long ago, when the ark passed through the Jordan, people spoke of Him as "the God of all the earth." Now He is to be known simply as "the God of heaven." As we see in Daniel, the earth passes in fact into the hands of the Gentiles. God's throne is no longer on earth where people can see it.
So Israel now leaned on the favour of foreign rulers. Commentators trace that back to the nation's own sins.
Because of their sins, Israel depended on the favour of those who ruled over them. They had to wait on God to make those rulers favourable. So they worshipped Him according to His merciful arrangements, until the Messiah should come, who would be their Redeemer and Deliverer.
- Attack — the letter meant to stop the work is what produced a royal decree to fund it. God used the enemy's power for His own purposes.
- Supply — the taxes the enemies feared losing now flow to the Jews, and the altar gets fresh supplies "day by day," not once.
- Faith — the delay was never about permission. What they lacked was faith in God. Faith is what brought the decree about.
- Christ — every item pictures Him. The burnt offering: God glorified by His sacrifice. The grain offering: the perfection of His life. The drink offering: the believer's joy in Him.
- Heaven — the decree calls Him "the God of heaven," for His throne is no longer on earth where people can see it. So His people wait on Him to turn rulers' hearts, until the Messiah comes.
that they may present sweet odours to the God of the heavens, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons.
A hostile report to Darius was meant to shut the building down. Instead the king searched the records and confirmed the older decree of Cyrus. He paid for the sacrifices out of his own taxes — and asked the returned exiles to pray for him and his sons.
The enemies' letter to the king was the very thing that secured the work:
To faith it was plain that God was working behind the scenes, using the power of the enemy to serve His own purposes. This is another instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. When their adversaries stepped in, Darius did not only confirm the decree of Cyrus. He issued another decree: the king himself would pay for all the provision the house of God needed.
The reversal was sharper than it looks. The original complaint had warned that a rebuilt temple would cost the crown its taxes:
Rehum had argued that if the temple were built, the Jews would stop paying taxes — but Darius decreed that the Jews should be paid out of the tax money! And that was not all. Whatever the Jews needed, the king would supply: bulls, rams and lambs for burnt offerings, wheat, salt, wine and oil. The priests in Jerusalem had only to ask — and not on one occasion only, but "day by day."
The shopping list in the decree is not random. Each item belongs to a particular offering:
The material mentioned was for the sacrifices and offerings. Young bulls, rams and lambs for the burnt offerings. Wheat, oil and salt for the meal offering, and wine for the drink offering. These things were to go to the priests without fail, day by day.
Older translations call these "sacrifices of sweet savour." The ESV says "pleasing sacrifices."
The title Darius uses is the name God Himself takes while His people are under foreign rule:
From the start one solemn fact is clear: for now the Jews are Lo-ammi (not My people). God no longer speaks to them through the prophet… God is given the distinct title "the God of the heavens" (Dan. 2:18, 37, 44), and the same title comes back in Ezra 1:2, Ezra 5:12 and Ezra 6:9-10… His people had turned away from Him to idols. That state made it impossible, given His nature and majesty, for Him to act at their head or among them as "the Lord of all the earth."
What the king asked for from Jerusalem was prayer. That request says something about the standing of this small, humbled group:
Darius does not go as far as the humbled Nebuchadnezzar, who proclaimed that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of men. Even so, he acknowledges the God of heaven, and he recognises the temple at Jerusalem as the house of God… Darius also recognises that the prayers of these despised and humbled people are effective on behalf of the king and his sons (v. 10).
Commentators differ on how far to press this. Rossier notes only what Darius acknowledged. Another writer sees a deeper change, and applies it to us:
Does this not appear to be a true work of God in the king's soul? Today, whatever government Christians may be under, it is important that they pray for those in authority over them.
Scripture gives a clear reason for praying for rulers:
We should pray for kings and all in authority, for the sake of the Lord's people throughout the world. We are to ask that the sovereign goodness of God may so control the rulers of this world that His people may lead "a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way"… Long ago the prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to God's captive people in Babylon. He urged them to pray to the Lord for the city that held them, and so to seek its peace. For, says the prophet, "in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7).
Taking a pagan king's money did not make the returned exiles worldly. They held two things together:
They accept the favour of Cyrus, of Darius, and of Artaxerxes, in the spirit of the command "honour to whom honour, fear to whom fear"… They were clearly grateful for the kindness these powers showed them, one after another. They blessed God because of them, and I am sure they were ready-hearted to pray for the life of the king and of his sons. Yet with all this they were a separated people. They refused to join with the Samaritans just as earnestly as they accepted the favours of the Gentiles.
- Opposition — The letter written to stop the work uncovered the decree that funded it. God used the enemy's power to serve His own purposes.
- Provision — Bulls, rams, lambs, wheat, salt, wine and oil covered the burnt, meal and drink offerings. They came "day by day" from the very taxes the enemies feared losing.
- Position — "The God of heaven" is the title God takes while His people are out of place under foreign rule. He does not act among them as "the Lord of all the earth."
- Prayer — Darius asked a small, despised group to pray for him. Their prayers counted for the life of the king and his sons.
- Peace — The pattern still stands. Pray for rulers and seek the welfare of the place you live. You will share in its welfare — and still stay a separated people.
Also I have given order that whosoever shall alter this rescript, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon, and let his house be made a dunghill for this.
Local officials had asked Darius to check whether Cyrus really authorised the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. He did more than confirm it. He attached a death penalty to anyone who tampered with his order, so the empire's own power now guarded a work its own officials had tried to stop.
The threat is aimed at the man's house as much as at the man. A beam is torn from his own roof and becomes the means of his death. (Older translations read "hanged" where the ESV has "impaled".)
Darius clearly thought it necessary to add a solemn decree. Anyone who tried to change his edict was to have his house destroyed, and was himself to be hanged from the timber of his house (v. 11). This would very effectively stop any show of hostility by the enemies of the Jews.
The empire's power now stood around the builders instead of against them. The words Darius chose also hint at what he knew of the God whose house it was.
So the king surrounded the Jews with his authority. He guarded them from further interference with their work by making it a death penalty to meddle with it. From the language he used, there can be little doubt that Darius himself knew something of "the God of heaven," for he speaks of Him as causing "His name to dwell there." Either way, God turned his heart in favour of His people and of the work of building His house. The decree took effect at once. We read that Tatnai and his companions "did speedily" what Darius had ordered. All opposition stopped, and the enemies of the work disappeared from the scene.
Persian law made a king's written order permanent, and the decree itself rests on a scroll found in an unexpected place. Commentators read both facts as God directing events.
Darius the Persian supports the Jews and gives a fair sentence, and it rests on the fact that, by "the law of the Medes and Persians… no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed" (Dan 6:15). In all this we can see the providence of God, watching over His people. The edict of Cyrus is found at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes, and not at Babylon (v. 2). That proves that without God stepping in, even the most careful search would have been in vain… he uses the authority entrusted to him to punish those who would oppose the will of God; and last, he solemnly calls on the God who dwells at Jerusalem to carry out vengeance on those who oppose Him.
The Jews started building again while the case against them was still open. Their protection came later, and it came through the complaint their enemies had filed.
What they lacked was faith in God. We have seen that when there was faith they dared to build, even though there was a decree against it. This faith brings about a decree in their favour — and it comes through the action of their enemies. It is good to trust in God. Blessed be His gracious name!
The royal decrees were never the first cause of the finished house. Something else held that place.
So the authority of the great king came on the scene only to confirm God's word and His servants, and to force respect and help from those who had tried to hinder… The commandment of the God of Israel had its right and first place, and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes came in under it.
The officials who wrote to Darius hoped for an order to stop the work. What came back was protection, and death for anyone who interfered. The same pattern shows up again in the New Testament.
God Himself was the shield of His people while they were busy in His service. As long as they obeyed His word and counted on Him for strength and defence, nothing could hinder them. In this way Satan once more overreached himself, and God used him to further the work that he hated. As the apostle Paul wrote centuries later, "I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." (Phil. 1:12.) … So, whatever the opposition or persecution, we may go forward calmly and with steady courage, because the work we are doing is the Lord's, and He has said, "Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
- Faith first. They started building again before any new decree existed. The protection in this verse came after the step of trust, not before it.
- Enemies as couriers. The complaint meant to stop the work produced the decree that defended it. Satan overreached, and furthered what he hated.
- Providence in an archive. The scroll turned up at Achmetha, not Babylon. God steered a search that would otherwise have found nothing.
- The real shield. God Himself shielded His people. Here He did it by wrapping a king's authority around them, and opposition stopped at once.
- Ranked authority. The decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes come under the commandment of the God of Israel. They confirm His word; they do not create the work.
And the God that has caused his name to dwell there overthrow every king and people that shall put forth their hand to alter [or] to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have given [this] order; let it be done diligently.
Darius ends his ruling on the temple with a prayer, not a threat of his own. He asks God to deal with anyone who would tamper with the house. The verse raises two questions. How much did this Persian king know of Israel's God? And why did an empire end up guarding a small and despised people?
The king does more than permit the work. He wraps the builders in his own authority, then hands the matter to a higher court. One writer notes the words Darius chooses for God, and what followed once the order went out.
The king surrounded the Jews with his authority. He guarded them against further interference by putting the penalty of death on anyone who meddled with their work. From the language he uses, we can hardly doubt that Darius had some knowledge of "the God of heaven." He speaks of Him as causing "His name to dwell there." However that may be, God turned his heart in favour of His people and of the work of building His house. The effect of the decree was immediate. Tatnai and his companions did quickly what Darius had sent. All opposition stopped, and the enemies of the work disappeared from the scene.
The phrase points to God's presence. One writer marks out what that presence included and what it did not.
Joy fills the hearts of the people. Once again God causes "His name to dwell" (v. 12) in this restored house, in a publicly approved way. His glory does not return to it, and neither does His throne between the cherubim. But where the centre of gathering of His people is acknowledged, His spiritual presence cannot be lacking.
The whole decree hangs on an old record that turned up in an unlikely place. One writer reads the search itself as God at work.
In all this we can see the providence of God, watching over His people. The edict of Cyrus turns up at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes, and not at Babylon (v. 2). This proves that without God stepping in, even the most careful search would have been in vain. Darius does not go so far as the humbled Nebuchadnezzar, who declared that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of men. Still, he does acknowledge the God of heaven, and he recognises the temple at Jerusalem as the house of God. He also recognises that the prayers of these despised and humbled people are effective for the king and his sons (v. 10). He uses the authority entrusted to him to punish those who would oppose the will of God. Lastly, he solemnly calls on the God who dwells at Jerusalem to take vengeance on those who oppose Him.
The order of events matters. The builders had already picked up their tools before any of this reached them. Their enemies were the ones who wrote to Darius and triggered the search.
All this shows us that Israel was at fault in stopping the building of the temple. They had no excuse, since even the king's command was on their side. What they lacked was faith in God. We have seen that when there was faith they dared to build, although there was a decree against it. The effect of this faith is to produce a decree in their favour. And it comes even through the action of their adversaries. It is good to trust in God.
The lesson here is not a method for handling rulers. One writer draws the opposite conclusion.
So God knows how to turn everything aside and fit it to His purpose. Our business is not to set one king against another. It is to go forward in the name of the Lord, taking His word as our full warrant. We can be completely sure of this: as we seek God's guidance, it is God's part to guide all men and all circumstances. That is His work, not ours. Our part, in short, is to go on in faith. He knows how to deal with those that oppose us.
- Faith first. The builders dared to build while a decree stood against them. The decree in their favour came afterwards.
- Enemies as couriers. The decree that protected the work came through the action of their own adversaries. Opposition carried the help.
- Providence in an archive. The edict turned up at Achmetha in Media, not Babylon. Without God's hand, the most careful search would have found nothing.
- A name, not a glory. "Caused His name to dwell there" marks God's presence with a gathered people. The glory and the throne between the cherubim did not return.
- His work, not ours. Kings' hearts are God's business to direct. Ours is to go forward on His word and leave the opposers to Him.